Rocket Man

I dont feel that my first post was to far off of topic as the money can pamper the pros as well.I realize that this is not exactly what the op was talking about but its not way off topic.I posted what I honestly felt and got attacked and my post called ridiculous. I guess that I have no right to defend myself and thats ok but I think the poster that challenged my view point was the one way off topic.

I am not talking about "marginal players" trying to establish themselves on tour.I do feel that there are a number of established pga pros that do not have to push themselves to get any better and still make a great living.Do they still have to practice and work at it?Of course they do but they dont have to really push themselves to keep what they have.You do make a good point about how many players lose their cards but also look at how many that dont.

I would say that the club has been improperly refinished to look new and the paint is chipping off or you may have been duped into buying a counterfeit club with a cheap paint job.

I think the money has a lot to do with their motivation to get any better.I really think that a lot of pros just do the minimum amount of practice to keep their cards. I mean wheres your motivation to go pound balls all day long when you can cruise your yaught to the Bahamas for the week and stay in the finest resort available.These guys live a lifestyle that we can only dream about by just plodding along finishing 30th place or so and by the end of the year they walk away with millions!! Why would you want to go practice your game all day long?

I build my own clubs and have several drivers with both steel and graphite shafts in them.I have more control issues with the graphite shafts versus the steel.By far my most reliable and consistent drivers have the steel shafts.It is important to note however that I play smaller heads (280-320cc) in the more traditional "Pear" shape.The oversize heads (360-460cc) that I have tried on steel shafts did not work out for me at all and I would recommend that this size of driver head be put on a graphite shaft.

While watching the featured group channel of the P.G.A.tournament today on direct T.V. I had to mute the volume because I could not stand to listen to Micheal endlessly blab on and on about every shot.I mean the guy never shuts up!!.Not only that but to me he has a rather annoying grating type of voice that he makes worse by emphasizing every second or third word that comes out his mouth.I hope he is not doing the commentating tomorrow!!

Well sir, you can call my course a goat track thanks to your girlfriend grazing in the middle of the fairways!!

"Turn your shoulders in such a way that the club ends up parallel to your target line and then the clubhead runs up a tree trunk like a squirrel" Actual phrase from a golf book that I was reading.Does trying to break your back beat breaking your wrist?

Will you get off of your high horse hobo trekker? There are certain times and golf courses that practicing should be not acceptable but does that mean I cannot ever practice on a course because I am not a pro? At my local course it is PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE AND FINE to practice when the course is empty.I have seen players chipping and putting on the 18th green which is right by the clubhouse with the club pro standing there and talking to some friends.He understands the need for practice on a real course for people other than pros!! It is a common thing when the course is empty that I will come up on someone and they will tell me to play through because they are PRACTICING. If I ran and told the manager he would ask me "Did they let you play through? Yes sir they did " Well if they did not hold you up then whats your problem Bud? There are times and places where practicing on the course is fine and acceptable Mr. "You cant have the privilege of practicing unless your a multi-million dollar pro"

The one thing that really stands out from the first swing to the second is your top of the backswing position. In the second swing when you are hitting good you are completing the backswing in a parallel position to your target line. In the first one you are most definitely not completing the backswing and looks like the club is laid off.Really check and see if you have changed something in your setup from the first to the second swing.

For what its worth, I find that when I am having trouble turning my shoulders without swaying back or moving my head its always a set up issue thats making it very difficult for me to make a centered pivot without swaying or moving my head to much.When my setup is good its much easier to just turn my shoulders without a sway or head movement. One drill that I use to get the feeling back of not moving my head is this. Stand perfectly still and only swing back with your arms and not your shoulders. Simply keep almost everything including your lower body from not moving to much while you do this.You should find that in only swinging your arms that this will make it easier for you not to move your head.Now of course this is only a drill to help feel your head not moving during your normal swing.This will give me back the sensation that I need to feel when I turn my shoulders during my swing. Hope this helps a bit and good luck!!

Patrick,I have read in some of your other posts that you want to discuss golf and some of your ideals.This is not being honest as to why you post your ideals and theories. You are a person that wants to be the "Giver" of great information that you fully understand and others don't and guide them down your path to golf greatness.You do not want people to question your wisdom, you want them to be impressed by it and ram it down every ones throat. You claim to shoot in the 70's and also to be a teacher .In your mind this gives you creditability and think people will be impressed by it. I don't think anyone belives that you are a teacher Patrick. For me you gave yourself away by posting pictures of one of your "Students" and asked the forum for advice on how to fix his swing!! Patrick, no teacher would do this. I think you should do yourself a favor and get some help!!

With the exception of raising the handle I use about a 1/2" forward push to start my swing as well and enjoy the same benefits.My hands hinge much more automatically and keeps my whole swing together.

I always got a laugh out of the Phil commercials when he was endorsing a driver.I always thought that if there was any club that you would see Phil in a commercial with it would be a wedge!! It would go something like "When I made that terrific flop shot on no.12 to help me win the tournament I knew that I can always re-lie on my trusty so and so wedge etc.. etc.. So instead of having Phil endorse our wedge lets have him endorse his worst club in the bag his driver!! I guess they were thinking that if Phil could hit this driver straight anyone can.Shooting the comercial probably went something like this "Ok Phil we need to get a shot of you hitting this driver straight for a scene in the commercial". 2hrs later "Phil hits our driver straight commercial take 237. "Darn I hooked another one, lets do another take"

The worst commercial I remember is Johnny Miller is playing with some other dude and its early morning.This other dude asks Johnny if he would like a cup of coffee and Johnny say's "No thank you this new Callaway driver is all the rush I need" He then pounds one down the fairway with it. How corn ball can you get?

Thank you for the reply.Its more about how my swing feels though.When I lose the feeling its not like my swing totally goes into the toilet and Im not doing things a whole lot differently.Its just that when I key in on a certain feeling it will trigger my swing and everything else happens very easily and subconsciously.When I lose it I must then consciously make things happen and I hit an "odd" assortment of very well hit shots to complete "Bloopers"This is when I have to make adjustments to get a new swing feeling to make things happen subconsciously again.Thats the best way I can explain it.

I agree that this would be a very frustrating experience and I have had times that all I could hit with my driver was a low smothered hook and it drove me crazy.I finally just took some time off from golf for a while (about 3 weeks) and this helped me to bust out of that driver rut that I was in.For what it was worth when I came back to it I found out that it was a variety of set up errors (along with a tendency to swing to flat) that was causing all of the smothered hooks and having a fresh mind after the break helped me figure this out.You will find the problem to your swing but maybe a little time off will do you some good.

"If your preparation and pre-swing motions are correct, when you hit through the ball, your arm naturally uncurls and if your grip is right, you'll hit the ball right. I guess I'm trying to apply the same principles to the golf drive." I fully agree with this statement and I too am from a tennis background.However In my swing my arm rotation will vary and feel different from time to time so I will have to make small adjustments to my grip and setup to accommodate how my arms are rotating at the time.I believe that this is normal and I have learned to kind of go with it instead of fight it.Being new to golf be prepared that things will change on you and what was working for you now will possibly go bad later on.This is just part of the game and you will learn to fix things again and get everything "Back on track again" It sounds likes you are a good student of the game and this is always a great thing.

''Instead, I found that at the top of my backswing, if I rotate my wrists about 45 degrees clockwise, I find my wrists naturally rotate more during my swing, to the point where its naturally going to be a square face at impact, and I can hit dead straight. Its a conscious action during my backswing, but I find that to be a lot less confusing that doing thinking extra stuff during the downswing'' Arm rotation is usually a "natural thing" and combined with a good grip will allow you to swing and square the club face without thinking about it during the downswing.It is never a good idea to have a conscious action right at the end of your backswing.You can do this naturally without having to adjust at the top of your swing if you work at it a bit.

I know that in my swing that if I'm hitting push fades (however not ballooning like you mention) Its because my hips are closed to the target line while the rest of my body is parallel .Now in my swing I push back with my left shoulder and having my hips closed while the rest of my body is parallel will make it impossible for me to complete my backswing and I will end up in a laid off club position at the top.This makes it hard to hit down the line and I usually hit a shot that starts off right of my target line and then fades to the right with a feeling that I did not "Get everything into it" This is very easy to do if you are wearing lose baggy shorts that cover your knees. As far as ballooning the ball check that you are not tilting to much in the backswing as this can cause hitting the ball kind of fat.For what its worth it sounds like you have two issues in your swing that you need to fix independently of each other.

I think that we can all accept that on weekends when the course is full that that is not the time to play a 2.5 or 3.5 hr round of golf !!.On my local course the weekdays it is almost vacant and the weekend is a mad house.I dont expect to play on Saturday and finish my round by a certain time.However on weekdays when the course is open and non crowded I should be able to play 18 holes with a cart in about 2 to 2.5 hrs.I get off of work at 2:30 and when I go home and ea,t take care of some housework etc. I can make it to the course by 5:30 - 6:00.In daylight savings time in the summer that gives me 2.5 hrs - 3 hrs to play my round. What really yanks my chain is when I go to the course on a weekday and I come up on a slow foresome thats taking all the time in the world.I mean when you hit your first ball into the woods,top the second shot, finally get on the green after six shots IS IT REALLY NECESSARY TO SPEND 5 MINUTES LINING UP THAT QUADRUPLE BOGEY PUTT??? I dont really care but when there is no one behind me and the course is wide open in front of you then hey LET A GUY PLAY THROUGH YOU RUDE INCONSIDERATE PEOPLE !!!

Actually the act of intentionally hitting a golf ball at some one could be considered an assault or even as far as assault with a deadly weapon could it not? If I was playing with my young son and daughter and some jack*** hit into us on purpose I would be calling the police department to file a complaint!!

I think its clear that logman is a bit caught up with the alternative swing websites.They pretty much all start out by asking the same questions such as "Have you taken lessons by Ledbetter,harmon and Hank haney,have practiced for 10,000 hrs,read 15 golf books watched 20 dvd's and you still suck? Dont feel bad about yourself its not your fault!! The fact is that only.00001% of the population can master the traditional golf swing because it is so complicated with almost impossible feats of timing,coordination,and athletic movements that only a few gifted people can do.So on and so on and blah blah blah.

when you realize you have forgotten your wedge on the last hole but youve been chipping so bad that you really dont care to go back and get it.